Help and beneficence

Which people are we morally required to help, and to what extent? In a world where the basic needs of many millions remain unmet, this is a philosophical question of great practical urgency. A minimal position is that while it is always praiseworthy to help someone, we are morally required to help only those to whom we stand in some special relation. In addition to the objection that it is too minimal, this view faces difficulties in accounting for emergency cases, in which one could, for example, save a stranger’s life at little cost to oneself. More stringent views that place no restrictions on the range of people to be helped do not have these difficulties; they do, however, raise the intractable problem of how much we must sacrifice for the sake of others.

The Characteristic Properties of the Minimal Lp-Mean Width

Giannopoulos proved that a smooth convex body K has minimal mean width position if and only if the measure hK(u)σ(du), supported on Sn-1, is isotropic. Further, Yuan and Leng extended the minimal mean width to the minimal Lp-mean width and characterized the minimal position of convex bodies in terms of isotropicity of a suitable measure. In this paper, we study the minimal Lp-mean width of convex bodies and prove the existence and uniqueness of the minimal Lp-mean width in its SL(n) images. In addition, we establish a characterization of the minimal Lp-mean width, conclude the average Mp(K) with a variation of the minimal Lp-mean width position, and give the condition for the minimum position of Mp(K).

Volume and frequency of ice avalanches from Taconnaz hanging glacier, French Alps

Very large volumes of ice break off regularly from Taconnaz hanging glacier, French Alps. During winter, when the snow mantle is unstable, these collapses can trigger very large avalanches that represent a serious threat to inhabited areas below. Photogrammetric measurements have been performed over 1 year to assess the volume and frequency of the largest collapses. Major collapses occur when the glacier reaches a critical geometry. After a major ice collapse, the glacier is in a minimal position and subsequently recharges over 6 months to reach the maximum position again. This critical geometry is a necessary but not sufficient condition for further large collapses. Large collapses do not systematically occur in the maximum position, as ice is often removed by disintegration into small ice blocks. For two major collapses, the volume of ice breaking off has been assessed at ~275 000 m3. Photogrammetric measurements were used to determine an ice flux of 820 000 m3 a–1 through the studied ice stream, in agreement with an assessment based on ice-flow modeling. This ice flux estimation was used to determine the average ice volumes breaking off over surveyed periods.

REMARKS ON THE HARMONIC OSCILLATOR WITH A MINIMAL POSITION UNCERTAINTY

We show that this problem gives rise to the same differential equation of a well known potential of ordinary quantum mechanics. However there is a subtle difference in the choice of the parameters of the hypergeometric function solving the differential equation which changes the physical discussion of the spectrum.

The Stream of Consciousness: XXVII. Defending Conscious Experience

Weiskrantz's recent account of awareness is considered from a perspective that James bequeathed us. In opposition to the Intellectualists, James asks why a pure ego wielding purely conceptualizing acts is needed to give us awareness of relations and universals, inter alia. In opposition to Weiskrantz's Intellectualism, I ask how a commentary system, which has at its disposal only conceptual materials, can swoop down from on high to do the job of creating the experiences we undergo. Weiskrantz prefers the stronger of two positions concerning the relation of awareness to commentary that are consistent with his general view. On the minimal position, he would grant that experiences do takes place without commentary. However, no less so, he would conceive of consciousness as a matter of engaging in higher-order thought. He insists that one's firsthand apprehension of one's stream of experience or its components is carried out by, as it were, a higher agency: namely, a commentary system. Thus, none of our experiences is conscious unless appropriate judgment is passed upon it from outside and on high.